Uphaar evidence tampering case: Trial commences against Ansals

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court today commenced trial in a case involving real estate barons Sushil Ansal, Gopal Ansal and five others for allegedly tampering with judicial records relating to the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire tragedy which had claimed the lives of 59 cine-goers.

One of the prosecution witnesses, Sanjay Kumar Tomar, who was a fire service official at that time, appeared before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Sanjay Khanagwal and recorded his statement.

The court concluded recording of his statement and posted the matter for further proceedings on July 6.

Apart from Ansals, Dinesh Chandra Sharma, a sacked record keeper of the trial court, Anoop Singh, Prem Prakash Batra, Harswaroop Panwar, Dharamveer Malhotra are facing trial in the case.

The court had framed charges against the seven accused for alleged offences punishable under various sections of the IPC including 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence).

The Delhi High Court had earlier directed the police to register a separate case for alleged tampering of evidence on May 5, 2006, when the trial in the Uphaar tragedy case was on.

Ansals, convicted in the main Uphaar fire case, are accused of colluding with others, including a court's record keeper, in destroying crucial judicial documents.

The documents allegedly proved that the Ansals, contrary to their claims, were the owners of the theatre at the time of the incident, the chargesheet said.

The documents said to have been tampered with included a police memo giving details of recoveries made immediately after the incident, Delhi Fire Service records pertaining to repair of transformer installed inside Uphaar cinema hall, minutes of the managing director's meetings and four cheques, the chargesheet said.